June 25, 2011 -- Updated 1936 GMT (0336 HKT)
American tennis star Serena Williams continued her winning run in her comeback grand slam event in England.
(CNN) -- Defending champion Serena Williams joined her sister Venus in the last 16 at Wimbledon on Saturday, but French Open runner-up Francesca Schiavone suffered a shock defeat.
Williams, seeded seventh in only her second tournament since last year's victory in London, had few problems in dispatching Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-2 to set up a fourth-round clash with 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli.
"Every match is getting better, my serve is getting better, just getting the rhythm that I've been missing. It's great," said the American, a four-time winner of the grass-court grand slam event.
"I just want to enjoy myself and stay focused. Bartoli is really good. She won in Eastbourne, she's doing great, so it'll be a good match."
Can the Williams sisters triumph after a troubled year?
The 29-year-old, making her comeback after complications with a foot injury, has won both their previous encounters.
Ninth seed Bartoli, beaten by Venus in the 2007 final, battled her way into the fourth round with a 5-7 6-4 9-7 win over Italian No. 21 Flavia Pennetta in just over three hours.
The Frenchwoman, who won her first grass title the week before Wimbledon, fought back after sending her coach and father Walter to the stands along with her mother following her first-set reverse.
"I saw them after the match and they understood completely. It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse," the 26-year-old said in quotes reported by AFP.
"I needed to get that frustration out, so I showed it that way. I could have broken a racquet. I normally never act like that. I felt at this point I had to get all this frustration out and start again."
Schiavone was also involved in an epic match against unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek, which resumed at one set all after being halted by rain on Friday.
The Italian sixth seed ended up losing 3-6 6-4 11-9 in three hours and 41 minutes against a player who also reached the fourth round as a 16-year-old in 2007 but hasn't got past the first stage since then.
Schiavone, who won her first grand slam at the 2010 French Open, has only once progressed past the third round, reaching the quarterfinals two years ago.
The world No. 80 has a great chance of making the quarterfinals as she next faces 20-year-old Russian left-hander Ksenia Pervak, who knocked out 11th seed Andrea Petkovic on Friday to continue her promising debut appearance.
World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki remains on course for her first grand slam title after beating Australian 27th seed Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 6-2.
The 20-year-old Dane will next play Slovakian 24th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the fourth round for the first time with a 6-4 1-6 6-3 win over German No. 16 Julia Gorges.
Wozniacki could face fifth seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals after the 2004 champion progressed with a 6-2 6-3 win over Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic.
The Russian will begin the second week of the tournament with a clash against Peng Shuai, the only Chinese player left in the draw.
Peng, seeded 20th, will be hoping to repeat compatriot Li Na's victory over Sharapova at the French Open after earning her place with a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) victory over Hungary's Melinda Czink.
Sabine Lisicki, who eliminated Roland Garros winner Li in the second round, continued her progress with a 6-4 6-2 win over Japan's Misaki Doi.
The German will next play world No. 81 Petra Cetkovska, who eliminated Serbian 18th seed Ana Ivanovic. The winner of that match will next face Serena Williams or Bartoli.
Cetkovska, who has never before made it past the first round at Wimbledon, won 6-2 7-6 (7-0) against the former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion.
The rest of the last-16 draw sees five-time champion Venus Williams face 2010 semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, while fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus plays Russia's Nadia Petrova and Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova takes on Belgian No. 18 Yanina Wickmayer.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
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